Mai Otomodachi Koishii
by who1roman4
Summary: Semi Otome-HiME crossover. Strange creatures with familiar masters start attacking Earl. An old legend resurfaces when the Otome look for a way to beat their new foes. What does it have to do with the mystery of the Blue Sky Sapphire?  More in summary.
1. The secret of Blue Sky

**Semi Otome-HiME crossover. **

**It's been one year since the defeat of Nagi de Atari and Schwartz. One year since Nina Wang disappeared. In aftermath, the world alliances are strained and the Otome SLOT talks have begun. Things don't look good when strange creatures start appearing all over the world along with very familiar masters. In an effort to combat these new foes, the Otome stumble upon a legend dating back to the days of Earth that seems to unlock the secrets behind the sapphire of blue sky, releasing an unknown power that has been dubbed a Hyper Leap. But it's not just the Otome that are dragged into it. The legend and the secrets it unlocks, forces our favorite cast to realize the necessity and consequences of terrifying power. It also forces them to face something that can be even more terrifying, their heart.  
**

**Contains all major Otome Characters. The parings are part of the twist, but there are a WHOLE lot of them. Femslash. Obviously.  
**

**T for now. We'll see about that.**

** Please r&r. This is my first adventure style fic, let me know if the style works. **

**Do enjoy. **

Windbloom's Meister, Arika Yumemiya, was enjoying another peaceful day in the Kingdom. It was rare with all the work and extra training she was assigned that she got to relax and make her way into the city. Becoming an Otome was her dream and she was very happy to be living it, but sometimes it really did take a toll on her. Honestly, it wasn't as fun as she thought it would be.

Then again it wasn't exactly the way she had imagined it.

Her days consisted of making appearances with the Mashiro-chan, overseeing meetings with Mashiro-chan, and generally taking care of Mashiro-chan. When she wasn't doing any of that, her free time consisted of catching up with her school work. Though she was a Meister, she had technically made a contract before graduating, far from it. Usually, she was too busy to take actual classes at Garderobe, which took all the fun out of it. Instead, she received the personal tutoring of Miss Maria Graceburt.

Definitely not as she had imagined it.

But she was happy for the most part. Earl was currently at peace, although the stakes of it were somewhat fragile. She was a Meister Otome to Mashiro Blan de Windbloom and both were working diligently on either side to make a kingdom where everyone could smile. The days could be hectic, but they always ended with Mashiro-chan, the Queen and her Otome together. Though most palace attendants or Meister Otome that witnessed the very ungraceful interactions of the two would shake their heads, they would also be the first ones to admit that the two made a fantastic team.

Arika and Mashiro were unconventional by most standards, but results didn't lie. They were being called, in magazines and newspapers all over Earl, the couple to watch. It was an awkward title for both young women, but it wasn't exactly wrong either. They were somewhat involved with each other, but it was an unspoken sort of thing.

Many Otome and their Masters experienced a deep connection because of the mechanics of the contract, so neither thought too much about the feelings they sometimes experienced. It didn't seem strange to either that they loved the other. They relied on each other so much that it just seemed natural. It was seldom physical, but they occasionally engaged in intimacy. That was also something they didn't really talk about.

It happened rarely, but there were times when they accomplished something big together that Mashiro would just look at her Meister with such endearment in her eyes. Arika would swell with the same as she would gaze at her partner, who sometimes really did look every inch the royalty she was named. The next thing she knew, Mashiro's lips would be crushed against hers in urgency and they would end up tangled in the Queen's bed whispering words of love until morning.

No one was really surprised by their behavior, though Nao-sempai usually gave her a raised eyebrow on the days she was apparently 'glowing'. After all, It was common for Otome's to take female lovers.

She certainty couldn't complain, Arika thought as she bounded down the streets of windbloom with her arms extended from her sides. Though she could fly, Arika always felt free when she ran like that. Her thoughts flowed freely like the wind through her hair, she liked it. It was often on these runs that she thought of the only thing that seemed to be missing from her life. Unfortunately it felt like a relatively large portion of it. Arika turned her gaze to the sky, as if wondering if the girl was still up there. It wasn't like she had come back.

_Nina-chan…_

No one had seen or heard from Garderobe's former number one coral student. It wasn't terribly surprising considering all that had happened. Nagi del Artai had nearly made Nina destroy half of Earl with the use of the Harmonium and the Blood Red Diamond.

In the aftermath of the Yuma indecent, when Arika had returned to Earl without Nina rumors spread like wildfire. Some said she had escaped and run away, others said she was dead. A few weeks later, Sergey was transferred to somewhere back in Artai. More rumors that Nina had found him and they now lived together happily as fugitives also went around. Arika liked to believe the last one.

She wanted to see Nina, but she knew the former Meister was where she wanted to be. It was something she often took solace in. She believed that Nina was happy with all her heart. She had to believe, or else doubts that her friend was… Arika tried not to think of the alternatives.

Many people viewed the young Otome as a fugitive. None of the Garderobe staff nor Queen Mashiro felt that way. They knew as well as Arika how manipulated she had been by the Duke, her former master. Besides, Sergey had been involved. No, it wasn't Nina's fault. She had proved she would do anything to save him. He was _everything _to her. Arika could understand what that must feel like, it was unavoidable.

Arika cringed. That man brought up painful memories. If Arika hadn't been so confused with her feelings and if she wasn't the daughter of Lena, there would have never been a fight. But Arika was those things and the conflict arose. It led to Ers-chan's death. It led her to fight against her best friend, against Nina-chan. They had nearly killed each other because of him. Arika could only thank Shinso-sama that it had ended before the unredeemable happened.

Her mind wondered to the last memory of her lost friend. For a moment, when Arika had finally caught up to Nina as they fell through space, it seemed as if none of it had happened at all.

"My most precious friend…" Arika said absentmindedly as she reached the steps of Garderobe. Her gaze traveled up the long steps leading to the cherished campus. A slight smile pulled on her lips. Her best memories were born within those walls, those days with all her classmates…Nao-sempai, Headmaster, and Shizuru-onesama too. Though she loved her days at Windbloom's castle, Arika knew Garderobe would always be her home.

"Mmph!" She nodded firmly with a full smile, before starting her long run up the steps.

When she visited Garderobe, she was met with awed expressions and nearly everyone wished her good morning. The few who didn't were simply speechless at the sight of their Arika-onesama actually visiting their school. She had acquired quite a fan base from her actions over the past year. She thought it was odd being called an Onesama, but she was a Meister now, a fact she often forgot while running and reminiscing her way through the courtyards. A fact some of the professors wished they could deny upon seeing the Meister act so ungracefully in the eyes of the underclassmen.

After a quick lap around the school, Arika made her way to visit Irina-chan. She was still an otome, but focused more on scientific research and assisting professor Youko than her training.

"Irina-chan!" Arika sang, bursting through the door.

"Arika-chan!" Irina gasped. The young Meister's visits were always sporadic and since her first day on campus, Arika had always known how to make an entrance.

"Ah Meister Arika, slipped away again I see." Youko said calmly from behind a table of test tubes.

Arika laughed uneasily with a hand behind her head.

"Please see that your Queen doesn't barge in here looking for you and ruin my experiment this time? Ne?" the professor said with a smile, walking over to pat the Meister on the head.

"Mou Youko-sensei." She whined as Youko walked away, waving her hand.

After the head researcher left, Irina filled Arika in on the latest gossip. Although most of it involved new students or classmates that she never really got to know, Arika enjoyed it all the same. It was like regaining a part of the Garderobe experience that she lost while living in the castle. Arika was also happy to be reminded that some things never changed, mainly Irina's taste for gossip.

"Oooh!" Irina squealed, remembering a particularly rare and juicy bit of information she'd picked up the other day.

"Tell me, tell me!"

"Well…" Irina trailed, a glint appearing in her eyes as she refocused her glasses. It was a trademark of Irina's that usually singled something very interesting. "Nao-onesama has taken a lover!"

Arika dropped her jaw.

"I know! Big news!" Irina piped.

"Is it true?" She leaned forward, egging her informant on.

"Hai! Apparently she's been sneaking out at night!"

Arika's expression dropped. "Mou Irina-chan. Nao-sempai always sneaks out. She goes and beats up perverts on the street!"

"Hai, but she's been doing that publicly now. Ever since becoming a column she does whatever she wants. She's made a point of rubbing that in the Headmaster's face." Irina ended, with a sour tone. Natsuki had barged into the laboratory a number of times very flustered, ordering Youko to shut off the fourth column's gem. "Besides, she isn't under curfew anymore. She can come and go as she pleases, meaning that she shouldn't be sneaking out. Unless, of course, she is hiding something!" Irina concluded with a finger in the air, looking rather pleased and excited with herself. She loved conspiracy theories.

"Ehhh?" Arika gasped. Easily convinced and re-hooked on Irina's latest rumor. "Who is it?"

"I don't know…I tried to tail her once, but she's very good at sneaking around. She caught me and trapped me in a web until Youko went looking for me." She admitted rather sheepishly.

Arika had to laugh. She could definitely imagine Nao-sempai doing that.

Meanwhile, back in Windbloom's castle, Mashiro was not having as good a time as her Otome. The young queen was silently cursing Arika as she cringed under the scrutiny of Miss Maria. She finally started to understand why Arika usually followed directions from her professor, better and more efficiently than her own. _Scary…_she thought as her eyebrow twitched. Miss Maria's steely expression had not changed for the last thirty seconds, but to Mashiro it felt like half an hour. _Damn it, Arika! Where are you?_

"AACHOU!"

"___Gazuntit_."

"Arigato Irina-chan." Arika said while pinching her nose, making a sour face. _Mashiro-chan is looking for me… _ "Ne, what were you saying?"

"Oh, yeah I was asking about your gem."

"Ara," Arika brought her hand to her ear, letting her finger run the earring where the Blue Sky Sapphire lay. "my gem?"

"Hai Arika-chan." Irina replied. She turned to look over both shoulders and motioned for Arika to come closer. "You see, we have been researching the full form of your gem. When you first activated your gem, your robe wasn't the same one Lena, ano, your mother's."

"Ah, that's right. I couldn't use it until I destroyed the core Shwartz created with my mother's body."

"Hai. Headmaster wanted Youko-sensei to look into it. We've never seen a gem materialize two different robes."

Arika looked away, in a thoughtful expression. "True…so why mine?"

"Exactly. We thought it had something to do with the incredible power that your mother had. I did a lot of research on her for Youko, and found some irregularities. Lena-onesama always had trouble retaining her gems because she overpowered them. During her time at Garderobe she broke countless coral and pearl gems. When she graduated, she was given The Lofty Crimson Jade, a super Meister gem…"

"Super Meister gem…?"

"Hai. A super Meister gem gives the wearer a more powerful robe. The known super Meister gem's are the Betwitching Smile Amethyst, Ice Silver Crystal, Fire String Ruby, and your Blue Sky Sapphire…Shizuru-Onesama's, Headmaster's, Mai-san's, and Arika-chan's gem."

"Ah, so the Lofty Crimson Jade could hold Okasan's power."

"Well, that's where there was an irregularity. She shouldn't have, but she broke it in a battle while protecting the previous queen, Sifr Windbloom."

"Ha? She broke it?"

"Probably, there are no records after that. The system shows a huge overload and then nothing. The next gem Lena used was the Blue Sky Sapphire, only her robe more resembled the one you use now. The full power of the Blue Sky Sapphire."

Arika nodded, but her face was locked in deep concentration. _Irina-chan's theories have gotten harder to understand… _

"So she never used your first robe. The only records of her gem indicate the use of the Blue Sky, the first and only robe capable of containing Lena's power."

"Hai…"

"Now, here is where it gets confusing." Arika slouched instantly. Irina was already talking her in circles, how could it get more confusing. "Everyone assumes that the Blue Sky Sapphire worked because it was a Meister gem." Arika nodded. "But the Lofty Crimson Jade should have been the same unless the Blue Sky Sapphire had some additional feature. Garderobe's official report states that your use of a two stage robe proves that the gem is special, which would also explain why it could hold Lena's power. She only used the higher state because her initial materialization energy would have broken the first."

The official report seemed to make sense to Arika, but the fired up look in Irina's eyes could only mean one thing. She had stumbled on one big piece of evidence that fed an even bigger conspiracy. Irina adjusted her glasses, casting a glint in the lenses. Arika moved towards the edge of her seat.

"I was just poking around one day in the system scans and happened to peek into gem frequencies. Each gem has its own unique pattern, but my theory was that the frequencies tend to coincide with materialization output level. That means that all coral gems should put out similar frequencies. This was proven for all gems, even up to the Super Meister Gem level."

"Sugoi Irina-chan! You know so much more about gems than we learned in class!"

"Well, as any good scientist would, I checked to make sure this was true cross-temporally."

"Eh?"

"Across time." Irina translated.

"Ah."

"All tests came out as expected except for Lena-onesama."

Arika's eyes widened at that.

"Her gem was putting out a frequency above all the Super Meister Gem's. The only other one that comes close to it is the Bewitching Smile Amethyst."

"Shizuru-Onesama?"

"Hai. Only Shizuru-Onesama. None of the previous wearers of that gem put out that kind of signal. I initially thought that her frequency was just a small outlier because the Archmiester is currently the strongest Otome, but when compared to Meister Sayers it looks like it could be something different entirely. The thing that surprised me most was that Shizuru-Onesama and Meister Sayers were the only ones to show that sort of result. None of the previous wearers of their gems do. None of the other Super Meister Gems. In fact all the other Super Meister Gems max out after a certain frequency; it's almost as if those two were the only ones to surpass some sort of maximum output barrier."

"But that means…"

"You wear the Blue Sky robe, but you didn't inherit your mother's power. At least not that one. From the evidence I can only conclude that for some reason the wearer of the gem changes the frequency, not the gem."

Arika looked to her feet. She was a very powerful Meister, but it was easy to take comfort in the idea that she took after her mother. When she used the power of Blue Sky she always felt closer with its previous user, just like when she felt her mother was all around her when she destroyed the core. After that she had thought it was as if her mother could finally pass her power down. Apparently that hadn't been the case; she had received a more powerful robe, but not her mother's power.

"Ne, Arika-chan. Are you okay?" Irina had just come down from her excitement of divulging another theory and noticed her friend's crestfallen expression.

"Of course!" Arika exclaimed with her confident smile, but she couldn't keep a little gleam of sadness from her eyes. Just when she finally thought she'd regained a piece of Lena, it was taken away from her.

Irina watched her cautiously. Maybe bringing all this up wasn't the best idea after all, but there had to be answer's for all of it. Headmaster had made it seem very important and Youko-sensei seemed to think so as well. It wasn't often that the head scientist paid so much attention to a particular case. After Irina had given her the theories and hypothesis she created, Youko-sensei had given her free range of the archives to continue her research.

"Ne Arika. I was looking at the data the other day. For both Shizuru-Onesama and Meister Sayers there was a jump in their frequencies. Here look."

Irina swirled around in her chair, setting herself neatly at her workstation. She tapped a number of keys with speed and pulled up a two data tables. The vertical column showed a range of frequency levels and the horizontal column displayed gem activations. From what Arika could tell the charts looked like a single step.

"See this?" Irina said pointing to the vertical line in the data. "Between these two gem activations, something happened that caused the materialization frequencies to jump. Here in Meister Sayer's and here in Shizuru-Onesama's."

Arika stared blankly at the screen, but nodded. She understood the idea, just not those graph things. The line was longer in Lena's than Shizuru's. Arika guessed that had something to do with how strong they were. _Wow…_Arika thought. _Ka-san was really strong…_

"I think that whatever we are looking for, whatever makes those two different from everyone else happened right here." Irina said, pointing at the space between activations. "Arika-chan, if we can figure out what happened, then maybe you can do it too! Then you can be like your mot- AIIE-TAI-TAI-TAIII" Irina squealed.

Arika whipped her head to the side to face a frowning Youko. The professor's hand pulling her young assistant's ear.

"Yiipee!"

"Ah, Irina-chan, Arika-chan. What is it you are doing?" The tone of her voice was light and teasing, but held threat. Her eyes carefully inspected the pair and then focused on the screen behind them. She frowned.

"Ahh-h. Youko-Sensei." Irina addressed her professor guiltily. "I was just…"

"Irina-chan."

"Hai!" Irina snapped to attention at Youko's serious voice.

"Nao-san has just sent in a bunch of information from her find in a ruin in Artai. Would you please archive it for me?" She asked sweetly. Irina wasn't fooled. Youko was still very serious. She was just lucky that she wasn't in any _more _trouble. Irina stood up under the head researcher's gaze and inched away slowly.

Youko turned her attention to the young Meister who appeared worried to be alone in her presence. _Scary…_Arika thought to herself.

Youko looked puzzled at Arika's expression before chuckling lightly. "Now you see how I keep that nut Midori in line."

"Boss?" Arika responded in shock. She hadn't thought it was possible to make the leader of Azwald to take orders from someone else.

Youko responded with a smile.

"Natsuki-san was probably going to tell you soon. We wanted to do a little bit more research before discussing it with you. Forgive us for that."

It took a moment for Arika to realize what Youko-sensei was talking about.

"Irina-chan has been doing a lot of work on this case. Thanks to her we were able to realize the distinct power that Meister Sayers had." Youko sighed softly when she noticed Arika's eyes travel to the floor. "I don't know what this means about your mother, but from the data I think we can conclude this isn't the kind of thing you can inherit. "

"I know…I just felt the robe made me closer to her."

"It still does. The connection between users of the same gem through the power of a robe is very powerful and I think when you were able to activate the true robe of Blue Sky you could feel it. I'm sure you still do."

Arika nodded weakly.

"I think the important thing to know is that it could be possible for any Meister to accomplish this hyper leap."

"Hyper…leap?"

"That's what we're calling it for now…Irina named it." Youko said with a small laugh. Her apprentice, who she was beginning to see Irina as, was a particularly zealous individual. "Anyway, your mother was the only one who mastered it. Her progression marks an entirely new level. Meister Shizuru only cracked what we established as the Super Meister Gem limit."

Arika , once again, found herself in awe of her mother's legacy. She wanted so badly to take in her footsteps and become the great Otome her mother was. Youko seemed to see this desire in Arika's expression.

"Maybe you can be the next master, ne?" She said with a pat to Arika's head. She smiled and brought her hand to the Meister's back. "Now go, before your queen gets here. Miss Maria has already threatened her and I'm sure she's quite _motivated _to find you now."

"EHHH? Hai!" Arika responded, scrambling out the door. She poked her head back in and yelled, "Arigato Youko-sensei!" and dashed out again.

"Hai-hai." Youko called after her casually, sitting in the empty chair and waving at the vacant doorway. She turned her attention to the screen and typed in a few keys, bringing up a chart similar to the ones Arika and Irina had been looking at. It read mostly like a flat line, but held a single spike near the middle with amplitude that rivaled Lena's master level. _Hyper Leap…Ne?_

She typed in a few more characters to access another chart. It displayed a long line that disappeared near the middle, but was around the amplitude of the normal Super Meister Gem. Youko looked to the end of the chart. There was a single point, marked at the newly established master level. Youko moved her hands across the keyboard, typing in a command to super impose the two charts lining them up to coincide with gem activations.

The first chart made up most of the combined one. The other's data dated too far back to match up with the first's. The second chart only made two contributions to the new chart. The name of the gem and an overlapping point with the first gem's hyper leap. Youko sighed, leaning back in her chair while staring at the combined chart.

She had yet to inform Natsuki about this particular piece of information. The first time she had come across it during a routine system scan, she had immediately reserved it to restricted access. These were the only files she hadn't allowed Irina to see. Youko trusted her assistant, but she didn't need her diving too deeply into her theories, at least not quite yet. The data was a huge outlier and at least from the Blue Sky Sapphire data, nothing like it had been replicated. Arika had a year to reach that power level again, but as far as the head researcher could tell it had only been an anomaly. If that wasn't puzzling enough, the other gem's data shouldn't exist in the first place.

Youko released a frustrated breath and placed her fingertips on her forehead, massaging lightly. Her lips formed a small pout as she mulled things over in her mind. She loved discovering new things, but this was dabbling in an entire new area of research. The power levels reached by Meister Sayers were incredible. There had been rumors that she defeated three columns at the same time, single handedly. Youko shuttered to think of what the battle might have looked like.

Peace was very unstable at the moment, but if negotiations were handled correctly it was possible that Earl could be looking towards the first tranquil era since the foundation of the Otome. Youko couldn't threaten that chance, not with two unexplained data points and certainty not with the sort of power and destructive force they implied. If they had learned anything from the Yuma incident, it was that power could be a very dangerous thing. Youko was starting to wonder if such a thing should even exist, even in the hands of Garderobe.

"Oi, Youko!"

The scientist startled, looking up from her screen to meet the leader of Azwald in all her glory. Midori was standing much closer to her workstation than she would have expected. Youko was no Otome, but she was usually a very keen observer. The normally stoic redhead wore an uncharacteristically curious expression with a slight humor in her eyes. It was a look seldom few ever saw from the leader.

Youko recognized it immediately and recoiled in slight embarrassment. Midori was jesting her.

"Oi Youko." Midori said insistently. "Do you always make such a cute face while thinking?"

"Midori!" Youko wined slightly as she turned away to sulk. "Baka."

"Heh, maybe I should visit this awful place more often." Midori joked with a wry smile.

Youko rolled her eyes at her long time friend. She caught sight of her screen and hesitated. She needed to close the screen without Midori noticing. That woman would bother her relentlessly until she found out what Youko was trying to hide. Although, Youko didn't exactly mind the dashing redhead's methods, she couldn't risk revealing something of that magnitude to the leader of Azwald.

"Midori, why are you here." Youko said, leveling with the other woman.

"Ah, I needed to see Gal." Midori replied as if remembering. Upon seeing the professor lost in thought, she had gotten slightly sidetracked.

"Right. She's in archives over there," Youko pointed, drawing the Midori's attention for the moment. She swiftly closed the charts. "with Irina. I'll take you there." She finished as she inwardly sighed in relief.

Youko stood and motioned for Midori to follow. Midori bowed as if to say 'after you, my lady'. Youko shook her head. It was hard to believe, at least in the scientist's perspective, that Midori had become such a strong and notorious leader. To her, Midori had always been this woman, the not serious and entirely flirtatious one. Youko allowed herself to forget her current dilemma for the time being. It could wait, locked in her classified files for a little bit longer. The two chatted lightly on their way across the room. Neither noticed a figure stealthily enter the underground lab.

The room was empty except for the intruder. The figure moved to the main terminal and hacked Garderobe's, and probably the world's strongest, technological security system with ease.

_System Data – Access granted_

_System Records – Access granted_

_Date Entry, YUMA – no file found_

_Director Classified Files – Security codes required – Manual Override- Access Granted_

_Recent Files – YUMA Materialization Charts _

The two charts blinked back onto the head researcher's screen. The android scanned its surroundings, efficiently planning its escape before turning to view the data. Calculative eyes copied the classified information, but paused at the chart's title.

Miyu had expected the first. It was why she was there. The second was what she wasn't suspecting. The new data flagged several inconsistencies with her files, indicating either her records or the screen was incorrect. In an attempt to resolve the malfunction, she scanned the title once more.

At the top of the chart read the name of two gems: The Blue Sky Sapphire and the Pure White Diamond.


	2. A lost friend

"_I've finally caught you." A voice breathed softly in the falling Otome's ear. _

_The atmosphere was whipping around her. Flames encased her body and her robe was disintegrating under the inferno. The girl opened her eyes, blinking, unsure of how she was still alive. A huge gash in her side and the rate at which she was falling begged to tell otherwise. Her vision cleared and those eyes sparkled before her. _

"_I've finally caught you Nina-chan." Her voice filled Nina's consciousness, sweeping her into a warm embrace. One that was tranquil despite the turmoil that swirled around her. One that was warmer than the inferno that ranged around them. _

"_Arika…"_

_Nina was met with a warm smile, brimming with the girl's seemingly endless cheer. 'I wonder why…'Nina thought as they streaked through the atmosphere, allowing her arms to circle around Arika, 'she always smiles…'_

"_I'll never let go. I won't." Arika said. Nina tightened her grip, allowing her body to press fully against her friend. _

Nina opened her eyes. _A dream…_

The sun hadn't quite risen, but the first light of day reflected off the snow outside casting a dim tranquil blue through her window. _This early again?_ She pondered, raising her arm towards the ceiling, stretching it as far as she could towards the wooden rafters above. Recently she had been unable to sleep well. That same dream played in her head every night, waking her just before dawn.

Her fingers lay splayed out, ready to grasp something that wasn't there; that would never be there anymore. _My most precious friend, ne?_

She sighed, dropping her hand back to her side. It didn't make any sense, she thought it would have passed by now. After all, it had been over a year. _Besides_, Nina thought, using her arms to lift her to a sitting position, _you did let go didn't you._

"Tch." She voiced aloud, shaking her head. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and let her eyes gaze outside the window. _No, that's not fair. After all…_ Nina paused as she caught sight of a head of blond hair amongst the snow. _I choose him_.

"_I don't need you, garderobe, or anyone! I only need Oto-sama!" _

Nina flinched as the memory played in her head. She shook her head. _Yes_, _I chose a long time ago, before I even met you._

After her adoptive father rescued her all those years ago, she pledged herself to him. It had started out as simply striving to do anything to please him. He was her world because he had saved hers. Without him, she was nothing. Everything she did from that point on had been in his name. She gave her mind, body, and soul willingly in the only way she could. Becoming an Otome would please father. It would make him proud. Make him love her. It was all she ever wanted.

She went to Garderobe and worked beyond her own capacity. She trained, studied, and pushed herself harder than anyone else; securing the coveted number one spot in her class. She had to, there was no other option. Her father said she would become Duke Nagi de Atari's Otome, the pride of their nation. Her purpose was important, but not as important as the fact that it was what her father wanted. He was all that mattered. She dedicated herself so fully that there could only be one possible word for it. She _loved_ him.

Nothing could possibly be more important than her dream to please father. There could be no higher purpose. She'd sworn him every fiber in her body. There wasn't a way back. Who else was she if not for father?

Nina was disciplined. She was strong, focused, and true. She was supposed to be the best and if she said that she would do something, she would follow through. It was her ideas of honor and albeit flat out stubbornness that practically created her. She had focused on a single goal for so long that she didn't even notice when the dream that built it, disappeared right out from under her. _Yume…_

"Dream…" She whispered.

It was a word she heard constantly, a long time ago. She had thought the girl threw it around carelessly, using it to justify her reckless actions. In fact, the girl had used it to barge right into Nina's life.

"Heh" She had indeed thrown herself into a head on collision with Nina's destiny. "Arika…"

It was a name she seldom spoke these days. Even though she thought of her old classmate often, increasingly with the reoccurrence of that dream, she couldn't usually bring herself to actually voice it. She thought it funny especially with the amount of times she'd used it in the past, usually yelled at maximum value and in a very irritated fashion. Arika's presence at Garderobe was…unprecedented to say the least. If the rules had been followed she wouldn't have even been there in the first place. But when it came to Arika, many exceptions were made. She didn't have the best record for the rules anyway. When it came to Nina, the two were polar opposites.

When she thought about it, Nina really didn't understand the rambunctious girl. Nina had to admit that there were rarely any dull moments, though at the time she'd seen them more tiresome than anything else. She was always bouncing around, smiling and causing trouble; yet somehow things always worked out. It was something that frustrated Nina. She was the number one coral. Yet even from their first butou, Arika always had a way of surprising people. As much as it pained her to admit back then, Arika had more potential than anyone had seen since the inheritor of the Fire String Ruby or possibly the original Saphire of Blue Sky herself.

Maybe what bothered her so much was that Arika had so many possibilities, but had no focus. She seemed to flounder around, never committing any real reason for her dream, so unlike Nina who had her concrete reasons. Nina's irrefutably pure and unrelenting reason: _her_ _love_.

Yet there was Arika, pledging herself away to a dream that she herself didn't understand. A dream that to Arika, held equal weight to Nina's own. It didn't seem possible, how could someone suddenly find a dream, 'to become a strong, beautiful Otome' and not even know why? She couldn't understand then, but maybe she could now. Maybe.

Nina let a small smile grace her lips in reminiscence. _Yume…Arika…_

It was funny how the two pretty much went hand in hand. Arika was just so passionate about her dream that even back then Nina had to admit, Arika was more passionate than herself. After all, where were they now? Arika was living her dream. A Meister Otome for Mashiro de Windbloom and despite not even graduating, she was considered one of the most well known Otome of all. Perhaps for her triumph a year ago, saving the world from Nagi de Atari and a Meister Nina Wang. And of Nina, She was with Seregey.

Nina almost snorted at the idea. When had things fallen so far off track? It wasn't supposed to go that way. She had sacrificed everything, at the drop of a hat just as she said she would. She turned the entire world against her to save him, to chase her _dream, _or so she thought. But no, this is not what she wanted. Even if Seregey was still the Oto-sama she had loved, it wasn't her true dream. It hadn't been for a long time. _If only I had known…_She thought longingly.

Nina watched Sergey disappear around the back of the house. Perhaps there had been a time when her Oto-sama had been her dream. She was young then and always so stubborn. She'd needed him desperately and only him for so long. She should have realized when things changed, but in the end she had been the one to chase blindly after something she didn't understand. She had been so pathetically blind.

Sighing, she laid back down across her bed, continuing to let her feet dangle to the floor. When she had first come to the log cabin tucked away in a remote area in Atari, Nina cried a lot. Sergey was still in a coma then. She figured that was why she was crying. When he woke up, it didn't stop. She told herself it was because she was so happy, but it was terribly wrong and she knew it. The gaping hole she felt in her chest hadn't gone away. If anything it was bigger and emptier than before. She was staring the reason right in the face.

Something tore at the hole every time she looked at him. She denied it while she could, but even for Nina some things were impossible. That night she broke down harder than ever before. She had ruined everything. Instead of being on her way to become a Meister Otome with all of her friends, she was a fugitive, probably the most hated person in the world. There was no redemption for what she had done. No matter how much she wanted to there was no going back, that life was over.

It didn't hurt so much anymore. It had become one of those truths that one just accepts in life. She had taken out her Otome earring and buried it in the back. She resigned her sorrows and vowed to live a simple life as Sergey's care taker. He was kind, but the man she knew was long gone.

Life was alright, but no matter what she did it seemed unfulfilled. Nina sighed again. She thought of how life in the rest of the world was. It had gone on spinning just fine without her. All her classmates were still in training. Nao-sempai was a column. Arika was living her dream with Mashiro. _Maybe I get it now, Arika..._

"I didn't even notice…" Nina spoke softly, as if recalling a memory. _Why you're dream won out in the end. _

"I was always too focused…" _Maybe a dream isn't about reasons._ Nina reached her hand to the ceiling once more.

"On chasing after Oto-sama…" Nina closed her eyes. Images of Arika filled her head. Flashes of her beat up and nearly broken, sweat and scratches on her determined face played through the darkness. _It's not something you can will._

"I never realized…" A sight of Arika smiling that warm smile, a truly happy expression on her face, lingered in her mind. _Because a dream is more than reasons…_

"When you…" Her pulse was drumming steadily in her ears. _Reasons can't define something infinitely consuming._

Nina had to swallow. Though she was the only person in the room, her next words were difficult to speak, most of all to herself. She closed her outstretched hand in a fist, staring at it intently for a moment. She closed her eyes. Clenching her palm tightly, she let her arm fall across her eyes. _ They could never hope to explain the way a dream takes a hold of you._

"Became my…"A warm wetness started to seep through her sleeve. _A dream is something special._

Tears were forming steadily now. An overwhelming feeling of helplessness took a hold of her body. _I think I know now…_

Nina lifted her arm from her eyes, not bothering to wipe away the tears. She opened her eyes to stare at the place her hand had been earlier. That space felt so empty. It was too late. It was all too late. _Where a dream comes from…_

"Arika…" She whispered. _The heart. _


End file.
